The Adaptive Capacity of Regional Authorities: a comparative analysis of the Province of Groningen and the Fylkesmannen of Sogn og Fjordane

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The Adaptive Capacity of Regional Authorities: a comparative analysis of the Province of Groningen and the Fylkesmannen of Sogn og Fjordane

Stokman, J.P.

(2014) Faculty of Geosciences Theses

(Master thesis)

Abstract

Despite the efforts of society to mitigate climate change it has become clear that even in the most optimistic scenarios climate change will occur. The issue of climate change is considered to be a ‘wicked’ issue due to the interconnected nature of climate change with other aspects of society, the ... read more uncertainties surrounding the distribution and consequences of the impacts, and the unclear and diffused responsibilities. The impacts of climate change are felt at multiple spatial levels and regional governmental authorities are in an unique position which allows for a more flexible approach than national government while closely coordinating and cooperating with the local level (Grecksch, 2013). Moreover some impacts of climate change transcend the borders of local territory and are better addressed at a regional scale by a regional authority. Adaptation to climate change is a challenging policy field. Even though the costs to adapt now are much lower than adapting in the future, the policy field competes with the short-term interests of other policy issues. Furthermore, it is a relatively new policy field in which actors have to deal with high level of uncertainties.
This research has assessed the level of adaptive capacity that is present at the selected regional authorities, compared the regional authorities in order to distinguish universal patterns and has analyzed the extent to which the adaptive capacity contributes to securing climate change adaptation action. By conducting a cross-national comparative case-study analysis of two regional authorities active in climate change, the Province of Groningen and the Fylkesmannen of Sogn og Fjordane, the level of adaptive capacity is determined. Both regional authorities are active integrating climate change adaptation and can be considered front-runners. The Province of Groningen has created a regional climate change adaptation program through which projects have been created to address climate change adaptation in policy areas such as water management and heat-stress. The Fylkesmannen of Sogn og Fjordane have focused on integrating climate change adaptation into existing policy making processes in the fields of spatial and emergency planning. To enable the analysis of the adaptive capacity a framework was developed which consisted of the following six dimensions: ‘variety’, ‘learning capacity’, ‘leadership’, ‘resources’, ‘fair governance’ and ‘willingness and perceived ability to adapt’. The data collection took place through a combination of content analysis of key formal policy documents and legislation and by conducting interviews with key policy makers and actors which operate in the field of climate change adaptation.
The overall conclusion is that the adaptive capacity of the Province of Groningen has a moderately positive effect and the adaptive capacity of the Fylkesmannen of Sogn og Fjordane has a overall neutral effect on the ability of actors to adapt to climate change. Both the approach of the Province of Groningen and the Fylkesmannen of Sogn og Fjordane feature specific strengths and weaknesses. The flexible governance approach of the Province of Groningen has positively influenced the dimension ‘variety’ as the inclusion of actors from multiple levels and sectors and utilizing and developing new solutions is at the centre of policy making. The key strength of the top-down approach of the Fylkesmannen is the clearly established authority, accountability which in turn stimulate the learning capacity. Opportunities in terms of improvement lie mainly in the development of a information infrastructure, strengthening the program management and stimulating double-loop learning for the Province of Groningen and employing a larger variety of solutions to reduce the risk of path dependency and strengthen the establishment of strong links between adaptation and other important societal governance themes through the organization, and foster cooperation on climate change adaptation with the Fylkeskommune. show less